


The Daily Lives of Fiends

by Armisael (Armisael_Bramimond)



Category: Devil May Cry, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life, chapters are in anachronical order, featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry™ series, incorporating SMT mechanics into the DMC universe, post DMC5/Nocturne Freedom ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-06-03 02:50:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19454791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Armisael_Bramimond/pseuds/Armisael
Summary: A long time ago, Dante meets an unlikely ally in a strange and desolate universe. A long time ago, the Hitoshura befriends another demi-fiend and hires him to fight in his army.Now they co-habitate in Red Grave City, working together, and learning just what it is to be a horror that fights other horrors while living on the fringe of humanity.





	1. Welcome to Red Grave

It’s incredibly early in the morning, far too early to bother anyone he doesn’t have to, so he takes a cab from the airport into Red Grave City. He doesn’t trust himself with driving a rental car since he’s never driven in the US before - Not that he had much experience driving in Tokyo, as public transit was plentiful. 

He gives the driver the address his longtime friend had emailed to him, and from the rearview mirror he notices her face scrunch up, as if she wouldn’t be caught dead driving to that location. “Is something the matter, miss?” he asks.

The driver looks back at him through the mirror, and her face returns to a neutral expression. “...nothing’s wrong, sir, per se. It’s just in a real... _ seedy  _ area of town,” she says of the location provided to her, “I’m just surprised you have business with Mr. Redgrave. Forgive my forwardness but you look very young.”

“Yeah, I get it.” he agrees. He’s gotten that a lot throughout the years and is very aware that he still looks like he should be in highschool. It’s as if he had stopped aging since  _ that _ incident.

The cab begins moving, and the driver continues her musings, “Ah, just about everyone around here knows what kind of business the Redgraves are running. I know those kinds of problems can happen to anyone, but, you  _ are _ aware that he charges for his services? At least, he’s started charging more since the older brother moved back to town.”

He smirks in the backseat. “I’m fully aware. I’m not actually in town for his services. The younger Mr. Redgrave and I go waaay back. It’s purely a  _ social _ call,” His smirk spreads as he watches the cabbie’s eyes widen in surprise, “...I’m far older than I look.” He’s only 25, but she doesn’t need to know that.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” the driver says, and he wonders if all the cab drivers here were as chatty or as nosey as she was, “...I’d say that you don’t look like the type to be in  _ that _ sort of business, but Mr. Redgrave used to have an associate way back when - he was super scrawny and fought off them  _ things _ with his crew.” The way she shuddered when she said “ _ things” _ greatly amuses him for some reason. If she only knew who, or  _ what _ she was chauffeuring around. “I haven’t seen that boy in a while, come to think of it. He’s probably gone. Yeah, now that I actually think about it, he was helping to evacuate people out of the city when that damned  _ tree _ grew through the middle of it. I’d hate to think he got himself killed, but he might’ve kicked the bucket. Oh well.” 

While he knew some of this from the Skype conversations he had with his friends in this city, hearing about what the civilians had come to call “The Red Grave Incident” from the perspective of a regular person was enlightening. Entertaining, almost. He feigns total ignorance of the subject in order to hear more, “I only read about it on the news but I can imagine it was a terrifying ordeal. What was it like?”

“Oh, buddy, terrible doesn’t even  _ begin _ to describe what I saw!”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


He’s dropped off in front of the Devil May Cry office, his new cabbie friend tipped an extra $20 for the information she inadvertently gave him. Slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder, he starts the hike up the front steps only to be stopped by someone calling his name from the adjacent parking lot.

Nero hung outside of the doors of the mobile Devil May Cry, a huge grin on his face. “Hey, you! I told you to call me once you landed at the airport! What the hell, man?! We would have come to get you!”

“No, he wouldn’t’ve.” Nico calls from inside the van, “He was napping and he  _ just _ woke up. Do ya’ll have any idea how early it is? It’s three! Aay! Eem!” she punctuates her statement by clapping her hands.

“Jeez, Nico, we get it. Wake up everyone on the street, why don’t you?!” Nero hops out of the van and throws his arms around his friend, “It’s good to see you in person, Naoki.”

“Same here,” Naoki returns the hug, “...did you tell Dante I was coming?”

“Yes and no.” They pull apart, “He knows you were coming, and I told him you were due to arrive today, but like, he doesn’t even have a guest room cleaned up for you yet.”

“Typical Dante.” Nico adds, poking her head out of her driver side window, “You’re welcome to sleep in the van until they get all that mess cleaned up in there. It’s not much but it’s better than sleeping on a bed of dust.”

“Appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to be a bother.” says Naoki, “I was actually thinking about staying in a hotel.”

“Ew. No, man, not in  _ this _ city, eugh.” Nico screws up her face, and Naoki had to wonder just what was so terrible about anything in Red Grave. He’s slept in far  _ worse _ during his stay in the Vortex World.

“Whose staying in a hotel?!” they turn their heads to the newest voice, a half asleep Dante in the partially open doorway of Devil May Cry. He glances over the group present until his eyes land on the newcomer. “...and when did  _ you _ get into town?!”

“I just got here.” Naoki climbs up the steps to give the older man a high five.

Dante rubs his eyes, stifling a yawn, “Those red eye flights are the worst. What’d you gain, 13 hours? You should have called me, I would have come to get you from the airport.”

“I  _ did _ call you.” Naoki points out, “It went straight to voicemail.”

“He unplugs his work phone at night!” Nico yells from the van, “Dayshift baby!”

“Shut it Nico!”

“Don’t unplug your work phone after 11pm and maybe I won’t have to bother Trish all the damn time!” Nico exclaims, gesturing emphatically, “Go back to bed, you old ass baby!”

“Can we  _ not _ do this outside in the middle of the night? The neighbors already hate us.” Nero complains, turning back towards the van, “Hey, listen, Naoki - it was great seeing you, but we were on patrol and gotta finish our shift. I’ll see you at sunrise, okay? Get some rest.” He pats Naoki on the back and then disappears inside the mobile Devil May Cry van.

“He says we gotta get back to work but I was driving around town the whole time while his punk ass was asleep.” Nico points out, “Make Dante clean out that spare bedroom. Don’t let him put ya on the couch!” she waves at him, as she slowly pulls out of the parking lot. 

Naoki watches the van drive down the road, and Dante yawns again, “well, it  _ is _ pretty late, and you all interrupted my beauty rest. Welcome to Red Grave, kid. Come on in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to a rare crossover. Some housekeeping:
> 
> The Hitoshura will be referred to as Naoki Kashima throughout the fic (his name from the drama CDs and the only known canon name for him) Any other information about his abilities will be brought up in subsequent chapters.  
> This is a post-DMC5 fic, operating under the fanon concept that the twins escape Hell, and return to Devil May Cry to run the business. This fic also operates under a post-Freedom ending for Nocturne (the Neutral ending), where Naoki supposedly retains his powers in a world restored to normal after the Conception.  
> Dante and Vergil operate their business under pseudonyms, ergo heir real names and identities are not common knowledge. Some liberties have been taken with how their business is operated that may or may not deviate from canon.  
> Naoki is around 25 here, so extrapolate every else's ages from there. (edit: updated Nero's age)


	2. Devil Breakers Breaking Devils

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few broken windows never stopped anybody.

“What do these do?” Naoki grabs a Devil Breaker at random from the hanging rack. 

“HEY! Get your hands off my merchandise!” Nico shouts, snatching the Sucker Punch from him and places it back on the rack, “Unless you can cough up the Red Orbs for these, don’t touch em! And even then, these Breakers are fitted for Nero’s arm.”

Naoki leans against the jukebox across from Nico’s workbench. “So...what does that one do, exactly?”

Her mouth forms a wicked smile. “...wanna find out?” Naoki nods enthusiastically, and Nico hops over the bench. “Hey, NERO!”

* * *

“...I leave you three alone for 20 minutes and _this_ is how you repay me?” Vergil chastises the trio in the main sitting area inside Dante’s office. He’s pacing back and forth in front of the single sofa the children are sitting on, trying to contain himself; He’s disappointed, but not surprised. Dante is absent for once, out on patrol, but he needs to be the one to punish them because his little brother won’t. Nero and his friends are young and they’re bored. Business has been unusually dry this week, and they haven’t found many demons to kill. 

There was no excuse for the amount of property damage that Nero accumulated while riding Sucker Punch through the front windows of Devil May Cry. 

“Tell me why I should have to supervise a group of adult children?!” Vergil’s steady voice could barely contain his fury. None of them are scared of Vergil - Nero had beaten him in a fair fight, Naoki’s fought far _worse_ things than a Son of Sparda, and Nico... _Nico_ , but that doesn’t stop Vergil from flexing his power over them as their employer. Vergil’s intones an icy growl at their indifference. “You will clean this mess up, and all three of you will be on call until you have enough to cover the costs of repairing this - 100% of which will be coming out of your paychecks. I don’t care what jobs you _do_ take, but this _will_ be repaired in three days time.”

His tone brooked no argument, but Nero, ever the punk ass, just _had_ to push his luck. “So, you know it’s slow season, right?”

“Does it look like I care? You surely did not care when your horseplay destroyed every window on the front side of this building.” Vergil retorts.

“I _told_ you, one of them messed with the calibrations on it.”

“Sure, Nero.” Vergil sighs in exasperation, “There’s nothing more to discuss here.” He grabs a rather thick stack of papers off of Dante’s desk and deposits them in front of Nico, “ _You_ ’ _re_ on paper duty this week, Nicoletta. Don’t think you can get out of this just because you can’t fight. I’d get started on those if I were you. Morrison needs these completed by Friday or _no one_ gets paid.”

Nico grabs the stack and saunters out of the door, probably to hole herself in the van.

The elder son of Sparda glares at the younger men, “...well? All of this broken glass isn’t going to sweep itself up.”

  


* * *

Naoki is a polite guest, for the most part. He sweeps up the glass by himself.

He actually used Zan to help push the shards around when Vergil wasn’t looking. There was no rule against using magic to clean up. 

Now the three Musketeers are sulking in the van. A mere four hours have passed since Vergil laid down his verdict, and Nico’s about 10% of the way through the paperwork. No one has called the shop all day, and Dante probably killed anything they would have gotten paid for while on patrol. 

“I’m not a child,” Nero grumbles to himself, tinkering with the controls on the very Devil Breaker that got them into this mess, “I saved the world _twice_ , goddammit. How dare he talk down to me like I’m his child. I’m not a child.”

“You technically _are_ his child, but we get it, tough guy.” Nico agrees, stapling a stack of her papers together and then carelessly tossing them in the ever growing pile of completed work. A quick check to see how much more she had left to do has her sighing loudly.

Nero puts Sucker Punch aside, moving on to tune another breaker. “Just because he gave me half my genes doesn’t mean he’s my _dad_. Have you seen our demon forms? They look nothing alike!”

Something Nero said causes gears to start turning in Naoki’s head. He tunes out the rest of their argument - about what the measure of a father is or something. 

The gears click into place and then Naoki gets a bright idea.

“What if you or I transform into our demon forms, and then we go and cause a ruckus somewhere where we’ll be seen?” he speaks up, interrupting their squabble.

Nico tosses her pen, “...Naoki, you’re _brilliant!_ ”

“Wait, I don’t follow.” Nero says.

“Don’t you get it?” Nico moves around to the other side of her workbench, her disposition doing a 180 degree turn as she explains, “If there’s no demons, we’ll just _be_ the demons! Someone is sure to call on one of you, and then the other will go and ‘slay’ the demon - we get paid! Rinse, lather, repeat, and we’ll have enough to pay for these damn windows in no time!”

Her eyes are sparkling and her paperwork forgotten. Nero’s nodding, slowly coming around to the idea, “Okay, but people have seen me enough around here for someone to recognize my devil trigger. It has to be Naoki.”

“That’s fine. It’s been some time since I’ve transformed.” Naoki grins. 

This is such a good idea.

* * *

Nico drops him off near the entrance to the power plant facility, but not quite close enough to avoid the van being spotted, so Naoki had to foot it all the way inside. He didn’t plan on breaking or destroying anything (because Devil May Cry owed enough money for various property damages) but the plant was fully staffed at all times of the day. 

All he had to do was transform into his devil form and wander around until he found some workers.

He thinks he hears some people approach the vestibule he’s currently hiding in. The hallway is dark, and the only light he can see is from the soft green glow of his markings. 

He can pick up several different voices in lively conversation. All he had to do was jump down from the alcove he’s crouching in, startle them, and then they call Devil May Cry to take care of the demon. Nero’s waiting conveniently outside of the plant. 

Step 1: Be a demon. 

Step 2: Spook some people.

Step 3: ???

Step 4: Profit.

  


This is such a good idea.

* * *

... this was not a good idea.

Who knew that the _one_ person in Red Grave City that could recognize Naoki’s demon form would be none other than Dante himself? Dante, whose patrol had him within the vicinity of the power plant, doing routine checks in one of the areas of town most heavily infested with demons? Dante, who showed up to the urgent SOS call about a demon sighting near the power plant before Nero could get inside? Dante, who would laugh hysterically in their faces, let the clients go without paying, and spend the entire ride back to the office in fits of laughter? 

The others did not share the same mirth that he did.

Nico parks the van in the empty lot, and the three stooges stay in place, their moods various shades of disappointment. Dante gets up to exit the van, but stops to take a look at the three adults in their mid-twenties sulking petulantly and he cracks up again. 

Nero was the least amused with him, his fists tightly clenched and ready to haul off and beat the crap out of Dante if he had to.

Naoki takes notice of it and pokes Dante in his side, “That’s enough. We get the point.”

Dante stopped laughing to take his request seriously, “Okay, but this is still the funniest situation I’ve seen around here in awhile.”

Nero’s teeth were audibly grinding together at this, “I don’t see what’s so funny, Dante,” he hisses.

Dante stands to his full height, and goes over to the piles of paperwork that Nico had been assigned to finish. He searches through the stack she has yet to go through, plucks one out from close to the bottom, and casually hands it to Naoki. “I may be a disaster of an adult, but when Morrison tells me that he’s paid for something around the shop to be replaced or upgraded, I remember.”

“Which paper is that one?”

Naoki reads through the page, his brows furrowed in concentration. And then he throws his hands up in the air in frustration.

“Well? Wanna share with the class?” Nico asks him.

Naoki takes a moment to steady his breathing. He’s more incensed than Nero was a few seconds ago. “Oh, this? This right here is a receipt for the new tempered windows we’re getting installed in the shop on _Thursday_.”

Vergil’s due date for the window money was on Friday. 

Dante grins as the others balk at the news. “That’s right! Morrison ordered us some nice new bulletproof, magic proof, _sword_ proof windows, not just for the front of the shop, but for the entire office building to replace the ones Vergil broke in the basement while we were sparring last week.”

A beat of silence passes before it clicks in their heads.

“I’m going to _fucking_ **_murder him!_ **”

* * *

Nico and Naoki relaxed on the couch in the van, a beer in one hand, and a camera phone in the other, each recording the beatdown occurring just outside the doors of the office. Both of them peered out of the van windows, far giddier than they have been all afternoon. Neither of them had to lift their finger - Nero was _more_ than happy to install Sucker Punch right into Vergil’s face. 

  
  



	3. Fascination (and Revulsion)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small interlude as Nico learns about the source of Naoki's powers.

“So… I heard you have worms?”

“Worms?”

Naoki is invited to hang out with Nico and Lady in the office one afternoon while most everyone else is out on a hunt, and Nico, ever the researcher, is chomping at the bit to get to learn more about Devil May Cry’s newest member. Nero told her that he was a “demi-fiend” but nothing about what that meant or what  _ kind _ of demon he was, and her curiosity was getting the best of her after working with him for three or so weeks since his promotion to full-time devil hunter.

“YEAH! One of the others said you have worms, and that’s why you can do all that cool shit like shoot fire and glow in the dark.” Nico continues, practically bouncing on the sofa in excitement, “but I would have never guessed. Looking at all your markings, I’d have thought you were a full fledged demon pretending to be a human.”

“It’s the other way around, Nico, but,” Naoki emphasizes his next question, “... _ worms? _ ”

“That  _ does _ sound pretty gross.” Lady adds. She’s at Dante’s pool table, racking up the balls and preparing to play a game by herself.

At least Nico has the grace to look apologetic, “Man, listen, I know it must suck having worms, but if it helps, I have some antacid in the van. I don’t know if they’ll help with worms but I keep them around because I have a shit diet and sometimes it comes back to bite me in the ass.”

Naoki is not quite sure how to reply to that.

“So man, I am real curious where you got infected with demon worms though.” she continues.

“In Tokyo - but Nico, I don’t have  _ intestinal worms _ . They’re not even remotely worms.” Naoki says, “Yeah, they’re parasitic, but they live in my brain, and-”

“ **WHAT?!”**

The clattering of a dropped pool cue on the hardwood floor interrupts his explanation. Suddenly he feels as if he’s being scrutinized by the women.

“Oh, that’s  _ siiick _ ,” Nico is grinning like a madman. She seems to be enjoying this conversation far more than anyone in their right mind should.

  
  


Naoki, however, is growing uncomfortable. The topic of the magatama is a sensitive one, a secret kept from his friends and family once Tokyo was restored to normal. They have been with him ever since that incident, thrumming beneath the surface of his skin on the nape of his neck where his devil horn used to protrude, and their presence barely noticed - aside from Marogareh, the very first magatama gifted to him by Lucifer, the one responsible for transforming him into the Demifiend, and possibly the only one even close to sentient. Their presence was felt on the edges of his consciousness, and one could be easily switched out for another other in battle, but he wouldn’t know how to describe what they are to someone else, much less convince them that they  _ weren’t _ worms. Their insectoid appearance didn’t help, but then again, he’s seen pictures and depictions of the Demon Lord Sparda, who looked like a giant beetle, and Sparda had a whole active  _ cult _ in Nero’s hometown. 

He’s honestly surprised that Nico wants to know more. He showed them to Dante back when they fought together in the Vortex World - Dante stated that they made him uneasy and he never wanted to see one again. It’s less so the magatama themselves, Dante told him once, and more so seeing them move around Naoki’s neck and hair, knowing that they are chewing on his brain or whatever it is that they do while inside of his head. Naoki understands; seeing them dormant is one thing, but when they move in and out of his ear and he doesn’t  _ react _ , he can understand why anyone would be grossed out.

Plus, Lady’s not wrong. Worms are kinda nasty.

But from what he’s seen of Nico, this woman  _ embraces _ the disgusting and the horrifying, practically dives headfirst into demon ichor to forage for parts usable to forge demonic weaponry, and does it with a joy unlike any other person he’s ever met. So Naoki calls Marogareh to the surface of his skin, and holds his palm out for her to see the small, silver entity curled into itself like a roly poly.

Nico’s eyes widen and she leans in closer for inspection. From his peripheral vision, he notices Lady peer over their heads from behind the sofa, her own curiosity winning over her initial disgust.

“This is a magatama,” Naoki begins, “It’s a ...I don’t know what to call them, they’re not  _ alive _ per se, but it’s an entity that is symbiotic with my body and the source of my powers. There’s twenty-five of them, and they all live in my brain.”

“You  _ just _ said they’re not living.” Lady points out, ever the one for pedantry.

“I don’t know the word for it, okay?” Naoki counters, “They move, they do ask I ask, but they’re not sentient - save for this specific one which I had with me for the longest, but it just like...shares a consciousness with me. I can’t really explain it because they’re so ingrained into me. I can’t remember life before they became a part of me.”

Nico was silent throughout that whole exchange, her expression full of awe and reverence.

“So let me get this straight, and I mean no offense, but you’re infected with parasites  _ in _ your brain. And that’s  _ okay _ with you?” Lady drills him. He gets the feeling that she’s not a fan of bugs, but doesn’t press the issue and just nods.

“That’s the coolest shit I’ve ever seen, bro!” Nico just about squeals, and reaches for the magatama, but then sharply retracts her hand. Naoki doesn’t think it’ll be a problem if she held it, and gently places the sleeping Marogareh in her hand. 

Nico looks at it up close, beyond fascinated with the magatama, gently cradling it in her cupped palm. It’s as if Naoki gave her a small puppy, Nico is  _ that _ amazed. 

Lady is seemingly frozen behind the couch, leaning partially over Nico’s head to get a closer look at the magatama. The three are quiet for a few moments, until Nico pokes at it tentatively, turning it over in her palm.

Marogareh chooses that moment to wake up, uncurling and stretching out into its full length, about three inches long. Its antennae twitch once. Twice.

And then it skitters off of Nico’s palm.

Lady shrieks, quicking backing into the pool table. 

“Well, shit, Naoki, I lost him! Sorry!” Nico exclaims, doubled over with laughter. She’s not bothered by the entity at all, and Naoki is amazed. He doubts she’s bothered by much, with the kind of work she does with demon innards.

“It’s okay, Nico. I’ll find it eventually.” Naoki gets up from the couch to search for Marogareh. The parasite never ventured far from Naoki when it was outside of his body.

Lady, on the other hand, is far from amused. “Look, I don’t care where these things come from, or what they do, but keep them far away from me.”

“It’s not going to hurt you, Lady,” Naoki chides her as he goes up to the pool table. He spots Marogareh on the green of the table, its tiny form scooting one of the balls into a corner pocket, “Stripes, by the way.”

“What?” Lady turns around to see the little creature scamper across the table, and she blanches.

Naoki motions to the table, “Are we playing?”

She rapidly shakes her head, and quickly exits the room, muttering something under her breath about needing a drink.

A whoop of laughter is heard across the room and Nico bounds over the back of the sofa, picking up Lady’s fallen pool cue and joining Naoki at the table. 

“No matter how many demons this chick has killed, she’s still scared of bugs. She’s a girly girl, through and through,” Nico declares, “Come on, I’ll play you and  _ all _ your little bug friends!”

Unnoticed by the others, Marogareh pushes the eight ball into a pocket.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I headcannon that the magatama have some sort of sentience, what with the amount I was cursed by one in late-game Nocturne : / But writing personalities or thought processes for 25 different entities would be overwhelming. This HC is based off of something else I wrote for this fic but have yet to post.
> 
> For those of you who have NOT played Nocturne through the True Demon Ending, the first magatama you receive in game is Marogareh, who's skills are basic unless you beat the optional dungeon, and it's final unlockable skill is integral to beating the true final boss. The game is completely unbeatable without unlocking Pierce. (not that Lucifer was easy by any means, and my TDE save file is over 100 hours long) 
> 
> Side note, and dumb trivia: all demons can learn Pierce, EXCEPT Dante, since he's the only demon that you cannot fuse in the Cathedral of Shadows. Guess who took him to the final fights anyway? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> For those unfamiliar with Nocturne, here's the megaten wiki link:  
> https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Magatama
> 
> They are wiggly and very yucky looking!


	4. First Hunt's the Worst Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naoki's first hunts as a member of Devil May Cry, as he learns about his capabilities and limits against the demons of red Grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for emetophobia/mild depictions of vomiting in the first portion of the chapter. If that's not okay, you may skip to the first line break and still retain the plot of the one shot.
> 
> This one shot's a bit longer, with actual combat scenes.
> 
> I've retained some of the spell names from Megaten, but in case it's not obvious:  
> Dia - heals  
> Bufu - ice  
> Zan - wind

“Hey, kid! Don’t touch that thing with your bare hands!”

Naoki, unable to hear her warning over the loud hissing sounds from the demon he was fighting, levels an energy charged punch into the glowing abdomen of a Green Empusa. The creature subsequently  _ explodes  _ on contact, and he’s rewarded with a helping of its stinking innards sloshed all over his body. The smell is  _ indescribable _ , and his eyes start to water. His skin feels like it’s melting, and the Empusa’s stomach contents begin to erode through his t-shirt. Naoki slowly removes his clenched fist from the partially destroyed flesh of the Green Empusa, a sticky “sssshiiiick” echoing throughout the warehouse before its head and thorax dissolve into a pile of red orbs. He retches.

“Oh, sweet merciful baby fucking Jesus,” Nico swears, grabbing a bucket from under her workbench and going inside the shower chamber to fill it with water.

Nero looks on in horror from a few yards away, removing the Red Queen from a Pyrobat that flew too closely to the mobile Devil May Cry, “Hey, Nico! He’s gonna need a whole bath! Let him inside!”

Nico emerges from the van, tossing the water over Naoki, who is still stunned in place and trying not to vomit. “Ech, not until he’s clean enough to come inside. He ain’t tracking that shit through my van!” She retreats back inside to get more water. 

Meanwhile Naoki is just shivering as the cold water seeps through what’s left of his (now ruined) clothing. The water only cleaned off about half of the filth, and he’s alternating between breathing through his nose and breathing through his mouth because the stench is foul but his nausea is  _ worse _ . He slowly raises his head and makes eye contact with Nero, a question in his gaze he was unable to verbalize because he felt so sick. His stomach lurches as a bit of goop falls from his hair onto his nose, and that was all the stimuli he could take before his lunch could no longer be contained within him.

Nero understood him completely, having been in that same predicament before, “I know, it sucks, but just hang in there buddy. We’ll get you cleaned up soon.” His commentary is lost to Naoki, who’s too far gone with emptying the contents of his stomach onto the warehouse floor and furthering his own misery, “The worst of it is over, man!”

“Welcome to Red Grave!” Nico happily shouts as she dumps another bucketful of water on the frozen hunter.

* * *

“...why didn’t you tell me those things explode?” Naoki asks Nero later that afternoon, after having gotten back to the office and taking a  _ very _ long, hot, shower. His right arm is badly blistered up to the forearm, and he’s slathering it with healing salve before he wraps it up with bandages.

This was his first mission since joining the Devil May Cry crew, after having sparred with the veteran hunters for about a month before Dante felt confident enough that he could go on hunts and not get killed - given that he had someone else there with him until he was back up to top fighting shape. Now he’s not as sure that he’s ready to take on another mission.

“Sorry, buddy, I thought you knew.” Nero admits, “Dante said you and him used to fight demons back in the day, when he was in Japan for something. He’s been vouching for your skills since you guys started talking again.”

“Yeah, that…” Naoki slowly begins wrapping his arm in the gauze, “...that happened about 9 years ago, and I haven’t really fought anything since then. I guess you could say that I’m out of practice.”

“Could have fooled me,” Nero says, “You fight like a damn beast, even if you look like a stick. Ever since you pinned me on that training mat, I’ve been convinced you’re not human at all, but then again,” he motions towards the bandaged arm, “You’re not totally demon either, I bet.” When Naoki is done bandaging his arm, Nero passes him a cold can of beer, which he happily accepts.

“It’s complicated.” Naoki sighs, “I’m not like your family. I was born human, and then transformed into a demon during what basically was the apocalypse. But then the events were reversed, and my patron - if you can call him that - let me keep my demonic powers when the world was restored to normal. I don’t really know what I am now? I’m a half demon too, if you want to be technical about it. Like an artificially made one, I guess.”

A moment of silence passed between the two of them, before Naoki spoke up again, “I used to have a mixed set of abilities; I was super agile, and could cast spells that could destroy demons larger than this whole building. I had command of so many different elements and I could heal myself. And I was able to talk to demons, even recruit several to my side to help me fight. That’s how I met Dante, after he decided to fill me with bullets.”

Nero snorts, “Sounds just like Dante. Shoot first, ask questions later.”

“Yeah, being chased by him down a series of narrow corridors with one way hallways in a labyrinth that literally houses hell itself was not the highlight of my experiences with him, but we became good friends after I beat the crap out of him. It was not an easy fight.

But now? I can’t call up those same spells anymore, not at the same strength. I don’t think I’ve forgotten how, I just feel like there’s something different here. Either I’ve gotten weaker, or they are ineffective against the demons you guys are fighting. And the demons I fought were  _ waaaay _ different.”

“Different how?” Nero asks.

“Well,” Naoki raises his injured arm, “I could punch  _ those _ and not be covered in demonic ichor.”

  
  


* * *

Naoki wakes up the next day, feeling back to normal, as if the skin on his right arm wasn’t flayed off by demon stomach acid. He pulls the bandages back tentatively, revealing smooth, unblemished skin. 

He gets off of the cot, no longer aching like he took a bath in highly corrosive material. 

Dante is down in the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee. He’s fully dressed, but looks half asleep, glaring at the coffee maker as if he could will it to brew faster. Naoki doesn’t drink coffee, never has, but he puts a kettle of water on the stovetop so he could make himself tea for breakfast.

“Well well, the newcomer finally wakes up. How are you feeling?” Dante greets him without looking up from his coffee maker, “Nero was telling me you got hurt pretty bad last night, but you seem fine.”

“I did get hurt, but I’m all recovered.” Naoki explains, “I guess I had to sleep it off.”

Dante looks contemplative, “That’s just a perk of working in this kind of business. Now you know how long it takes you to get back to normal.”

“Yeah, but I’ve seen Vergil impale you through the middle with your giant meat cleaver of a sword, and you walk away from that like it never happened.” Naoki noted, with a hint of bitterness in his voice. He was loathe to admit it, but he was incredibly jealous of the Sparda brothers and their abilities.

  
  


“Kiddo, we all can’t be like me,” The pot finally finishes brewing and Dante helps himself to a large mug before joining Naoki at the small kitchen table, “I knew you were different than I when I met you. You may not be in the same form you were when we last fought together but you still put up a good fight. So what if you take longer to heal after a battle? Lady’s 100% human and she’d be down for days after getting burned like you did, but a lot of knowing how to fight demons is from experience. You’ll get that experience the more you fight, and Lady learned from experience that she’s not able to engage in hand to hand combat with some of these nasties. She knows her limits like everyone else here, so learn yours. Just fight within your means and do the best you can do.”

Naoki stared into his mug as Dante got up from the table, leaving him to his thoughts.

* * *

“Hey Nico, how much would it cost for you to make me some gauntlets?”

It was a few days after the mishap with the Green Empusa, and Naoki learned that he had to be more reliant on magic spells to kill them. Magic was a lot more mentally draining than physical skills, and as he was out of practice fighting anything at all, his concentration suffered. 

He couldn’t help it. He was a natural brawler.

Nico looked at him in consideration, “Still wanna punch shit? I don’t blame you, I’d be punching every damn demon in this city if I could. Alright. Lemme do some calculations and see what materials I already have here, before I give you a quote - but if you find any interesting demon parts while you’re out hunting, bring them back to me. It’ll offset the cost for materials and make me a  _ very _ happy artisan.”

* * *

Several days later, Naoki is on his first mission with Trish, a hunter who he had very little interaction with since coming to Red Grave City. From what he’s learned from Dante, she’s a full demon and a veteran member of Devil May cry.

They’re called to clear out a demon infestation in the large cargo holds in the shipyard. Trish explains to him on the way there that demons are coming through small portals from the Underworld, and even after Dante and Vergil closed the huge portal from the Qliphoth incident, pockets of demonic activity still remain throughout the city. For every cluster of demons they kill, more show up. Yet it’s been two years since the brothers returned from Hell, and the demon infestations are sporadic, at best.

The shipyard is one of the more active sites for small fry demons who like to go inside of the cargo holds, demons like the various species of Empusa, and Naoki feels a lot more confident fighting the Red and Green ones after days of practice with Nero.

They enter into the shipyard, and it’s oddly quiet for a supposed demon infestation. 

There are two large ships docked at port, and massive containers surrounding them. The structures are so tall that they block out the moonlight from where they are standing. The air smells of salt water, and nothing seems out of the ordinary aside from the pervasive silence - there’s no noise from wildlife, no breeze, and strangely enough, the waters are dead still. They’re walking normally, and yet they cannot hear their own footsteps on the pavement. The scenery is so tranquil and yet so  _ still _ , as if they were frozen in time. The silence brings a sense of  _ wrongness _ in the air, like they’re in a sealed vacuum. 

Naoki almost believes that he has lost his sense of hearing until Trish heaves an exaggerated sigh. The sound is muffled but Naoki could still hear her, and Trish starts to tap her heel on the ground repeatedly, “What are you-”

“Waaaaaiit for it...” Trish says, her voice sounding like it’s underwater, “It’s almost here…”

A muted splash from the docks is nearly missed as a phantom wall begins to form thick red webbing, reaching as high as the eye could see, and they are boxed into an area between the two larger shipping containers and the end of the dock. The air pressure changed, a feeling of heaviness in the air and Naoki’s muscles tense, waiting for something to appear. He remembers seeing this pulsing red wall before, when a portal is opened and the demons enclose an area to trap their prey. It never bothered him before, when the only things he was fighting were Empusa and the rare Hell Antenorra, but this? This felt like a boss fight waiting to happen.

Marogareh stirred in his mind, a warning for him to face away from the docks.

Trish unholstered Luce and Ombra, turning away from Naoki so they were back to back, “Leave anything big to me, stay close, and try to keep the small fry off my back.”

At that moment, a large  _ something _ emerged from the water, bringing with it a miniature wave that crashed over the enclosed area, drenching the the two hunters in seawater. Trish fires her handguns at whatever decided to grace them with their presence, and Marogareh’s pull on Naoki is strong, keeping his gaze away from the dock.

Pockets of smaller portals start appearing like popcorn dimensions in the air, and in mere seconds, they were surrounded by Green Empusa and a new enemy Naoki had never seen before, some odd floating shadow that slowly drifted in his direction, with only a small white mask visible in the planes of darkness.

“Those are Sin Scissors, you can handle em. Watch them close though, they’ll disappear and then reappear on you without warning,” Trish explains, not letting up on her bullet fire, “keep attacking from a distance until you see their skeleton, and then finish them off with a strong attack.” 

Naoki could see three different ones in his peripherals, and kept his eye on them as he threw fireballs at the Green Empusa approaching him. The Green Emupsa were known to help heal their allies and it was imperative they would be killed first, as they were helping to keep the big demon Trish was fighting alive. 

One of the Sin scissors lunges toward Naoki while he was kicking away an Empusa that dove too close to Trish, revealing a massive pair of steel shears from the depths of its cloth-like body, and Naoki has to bend backward in order to miss being speared in the face. He quickly switches to a wind based magatama and lobs Zandyne at the specter’s mask, effectively pushing it back but not injuring it enough to reveal its skeleton. 

Trish fires her gun at one of the other Sin Scissors, knocking it out of the air, and exposing its wiry frame as it helplessly rolls across the ground. It dropped its pair of scissors a few feet away from its body, effectively disarmed. Without thinking, Naoki dives for it, rolling away from the Sin Scissors that he was fighting, and he stabs the downed one with its own weapon. The demon shrieks and dissolves into a pile of red orbs.

Naoki uses his newly acquired blade to knock back a different Green Empusa, swinging it in a wide arch and bisecting it’s thorax, killing it. He sidesteps a strike from the Sin Scissor and throws another wind spell at it, forcing it back but not hitting its weak spot. His magic isn’t strong enough to expose the skeleton.

He chances a quick glance at what Trish is doing, seeing her dancing and dodging from a huge demon that looked like a spinning wheel with spikes, revving up and flying across the docks towards Trish. He gets an idea - to kill two birds with one stone - and manipulates Zandyne to push the Sin Scissors into the trajectory of the spinning demon as it twirls towards his position.

The two demons collide, and the spinning wheel mows over the Sin scissors, killing it in one blow, but not stopping it from nearly running over Naoki.

In but a few steps, Trish is next to him, shoving him away from the spinning wheel with enough force to send him flying right into the path of the third Sin Scissors. Its body phases out, and Naoki falls through it, landing on his backside ungracefully. He barely registers the pain, using his pilfered pair of scissors to help stand back up. He’s not able to focus on the spinning demon as the Sin Scissors phases back into his vision and thrusts its blade at Naoki’s head. He parrys the strike with his own weapon, spinning the blade in his hands and thrusting it into the creature’s mask. The mask falls apart, and the phantom cloth melts away to reveal its scrawny red frame. Naoki raises his scissors and drops it on the demon, cleaving it in half and collecting the cluster of red orbs that generated from his kill.

A few Green Empusas remain, joined by some regular Empusa appearing from portals forming inside of the closed area, but the biggest threat, the large spinning demon Trish is currently preoccupied with, is still alive. A single word, _ Fury _ , forms in his mind, and Marogareh provides him with an image of a large, hunchbacked lizard, along with a warning to  _ stop it. _

The magatama liked to state the obvious, but that was no matter - Naoki already figured out that Trish was trying to slow its trajectory as it flew all over the enclosed area. Its spinning form was mostly impervious to the bullets Trish was unloading into the demon, so she had to rely on her lighting magic to knock the lizard out of its twisting wheel before switching back to her handguns. 

Getting the damned thing to hold still was the problem.

Naoki blasts two of the ugly ant-like demons back as he charges the Fury, mentally switching to an ice magatama. He casts the strongest Bufudyne he can muster, and a tall glacier rises up from the ground. The Fury collides into it, and its spinning form unfurls to reveal the lizard’s soft underbelly. 

Trish is on it, an opportunity to rapidly unload Luce and Ombra into the Fury, but the glacier cracks under the force of its thrashing and subsequently shatters. The demon resumes its rapid spin away from the two hunters.

“Do that again!” Trish commands, and Naoki sprints after her, using his stolen scissors to strike at incoming Empusa rather than his magic, as he was trying to recharge enough energy to cast another big Bufudyne spell. Trish notices, and conjures more lightning to throw at the Fury, in order to buy him some more time.

But the Fury would not allow him to repeat the same gimmick, as it sharply diverts its trajectory around the enclosed area, riding  _ up _ a storage unit, and flying skyward. 

Its movements were far too quick for Naoki to ascertain, and he just barely avoids being crushed when the heavy Fury drops on him like an anvil out of the sky. Naoki was still struck by the force of its collision into the ground, and is launched backward into another container unit. His consciousness wavers a bit from the acute pain of his spine breaking and then quickly reforming, and all he could see was the soft red glow from his markings denoting his low health. He didn’t have the strength to move, and one of the magatama took it upon themselves to force his body to use the last of his magic energy to cast Diarama on himself. The survival of their host was the highest priority.

It was still a struggle, even with working healing magic on himself, to push himself out of the indented metal of the container. Suddenly, Trish is by his side, pushing something hard into his mouth and telling him to bite down. He does, and the first thing he notices, aside from the rush of energy and his markings returning to their normal teal glow, that the hard capsule housed a bitter and syrupy liquid, burning his esophagus on the way down. The smell and taste was acrid, reminding him of the stuff that Green Empusa splashed him with days ago. He’d have to ask Trish about it later.

Trish dashes away from him, not waiting to see if Naoki was okay enough to move, chasing the Fury back to the end of the docks. Naoki notes that he now has more than enough energy to cast Bufudyne again, and takes off after her, intending for the next spell he cast to be his  _ last _ . Even with some of his energy restored, he wanted this damn fight over with.

The Fury never lets up on its spinning, but pauses in place, and he realizes that it intends to reverse and run right over Trish, who’s closing in behind it. He calls as much energy as he could to ground in front and the water right behind the demon and summons a massive iceberg from the depths. The Fury zips forward, only to bounce into a second glacier formed directly in front, and then knocked back into the first wall formed behind it. 

Naoki calls a third stalactite to drop in on the Fury from above, pinning it to the edge of the docks. He rushes past Trish, who’s taking advantage of its exposed underbelly and firing charge shot after charge shot into the abdomen. Naoki skids across the icy surface of the dock, using the momentum of his body to thrust his scissor blade into the demon’s flesh. 

The damned thing  _ finally _ dies, dissolving into a cluster of red orbs. The red webbed walls dissipate, freeing the hunters from the enclosed area, and all other portals disappear - however Naoki keeps sliding as his own glaciers vanish at the same moment. He lets out a surprised yelp as he continues to slide off the dock and into the icy sea below.

  
  


* * *

“Hey, Nico!”

The gunsmith makes a small noise of acknowledgement, not bothering to look up from the newest rocket launcher she was building for Lady. 

“When you’re done with that one, can you give me a quote?” Naoki asks, his clothes and hair still sopping wet from his impromptu bath.

Nico glances up from her work, only to scowl at the small puddle forming at his feet. “Really, Naoki?  _ In my goddamn van _ ?!”

“I’m sorry about that, and I’ll clean it up. I just wanted to show you what I got from my latest hunt real quick.”

Nico perks up at that, and sets the partially-built weapon aside, “I’m always building Lady a replacement launcher, but you’re a new client and I like new projects. Whatcha got for me, buddy? I hope it’s good!”

Naoki shrugs, setting down a large canvas duffle bag on her workbench, as well as the whole scissor part of the Sin Scissor he’d slain. “You know I’m fairly new at this demon-hunting business. It’s not like Trish took me to kill something you haven’t seen before.”

Nico opens the duffel, and pulls out the bits of Fury tail Trish was able to salvage from the docks. “You’re right. I respect you, man, I really do, but we used to see these fuckers everywhere during that Qliphoth ordeal. Still, since I respect you, and I know these are a bitch to kill, I’ll make you something special. I still got some bits and such from more gnarly demons the others brought back for me, and for you, newbie? I’ll drop the price to 120,000 Red Orbs for you.”

Naoki quickly checks his earnings from previous hunts, and realizes that, even after the amount of work he did this week alone, that he only had 10,000 saved up. He tells Nico as such.

“I know! I know! Shit’s expensive to make now, and there ain’t as many demons walking around after the Qliphoth collapsed, so I have less material to work with. I can’t do anything about inflation.” Nico explains, and she pulls out her pack of cigarettes, fully intending to begin working on his project, “I need them orbs though, not only to buy missing parts, but to help forge these things. Arms made of demon bits take quite a lot of material, more than anyone realizes. Really, only Nero and Lady are my only repeat clients, and for good reason.”

Naoki shakes his head, “I’m not blaming you. I understand that Red Grave is in an economic funk right now. Give me a couple months, I should have enough by saved then to commission you.”

Nico gently punches his arm, “No worries, man, I got you. I’m gonna make these anyway. It’s been a long time since I made something that  _ wasn’t _ a gun, and plus, you need an  _ actual _ weapon!” Naoki’s eyes widened in surprise, and she continues, “Now, you’ll still have to pay me the full 120,000 Red Orbs, but I like you and we can work out a payment plan. I’ll still have to gather just a bit more material, and I should have you something cobbled in a week or so.

Just continue to bring me anything you find on your hunts, even if I can’t use them for your weapon, other folks may appreciate the gesture. I’ll take any and  _ all _ demon bits. I ain’t picky.”

“I appreciate you, Nico.” 

* * *

Even though Naoki wants nothing more than to be out earning his keep, and to pay off his debt to Nico, Dante insists that he take the next day off to rest. He’s more strict with the insistences to rest when he has downtime, more so than the other hunters, citing his reasons as lack of a proper weapon, and being out of shape.

“It’ll come back to you soon, as long as you keep working on it steadily.” Dante explains, “But you can’t burn yourself out too quickly or you’re good to no one. Luckily we have 4 other full time hunters aside from myself, so we rotate out when demonic activity is low like this.”

“Which is a perfect opportunity to catch up on this ever growing paperwork, brother.”

Dante pouts at his twin, currently working from his desk in the main office and living area. Vergil returns to focusing on his task, and Dante turns back to Naoki to finish his lecture. “Don’t listen to what he says. It’s up to you what you choose to do with your day off, but I recommend just sitting down in front of the TV and scarfing down some fresh pizza.”

Vergil scoffs loudly, and Dante makes a rude gesture at his twin, “OR. If you want to be a stuck up loser like  _ Vergil _ , you’ll help him with his papers.”

“It  _ would _ be much appreciated, we  _ are _ a business, after all.” Vergil boredly intones.

When Naoki first found out about this demon-hunting business, he was certain that Devil May Cry was actually owned by the older brother, as Dante seemed too irresponsible to be in charge of  _ anything _ . He was quite surprised to discover that was not the case.

Vergil momentarily puts down his papers to regard Naoki seriously. “I was under the impression that you were a studious child.”

“I was.” Naoki admits, “I studied all my life. I even went to university. But I’ve had enough of studying. I want to work.”

“An integral part of the demon-slaying business is reliant on study, and clerical work. Not only to research demonology and the various demonic matters that we deal with in our line of work, but also the business needs. There are bills to pay, supplies to fund, money that we  _ owe _ to people,” Vergil’s eyes narrow at his brother, “I would not take any advice on running the agency from Dante if I were you. Morrison told me that he was completely bankrupt before the Qliphoth incident. If people weren’t indebted  _ to _ him, we’d  _ all _ be in jail. If I didn’t take it upon myself to sort this out with Morrison, we would have no control over how any of the shop’s funds are allocated. Heaven only knows Dante would continue to waste his entire income on pizza.”

“Pizza is the food of the gods.” Dante quips, and Naoki nods energetically. There’s no debating the value of pizza.

Vergil continues to glare at the two lazeabouts on the couch, “I do recall you owing a debt to our weapons specialist, do you not?” 

“Hey!” Dante scolds, “He needs to rest! That Fury hurt him pretty bad yesterday!”

“I do not disagree with your assessment, brother, but, this requires no phyisical exertion whatsoever. A proposition for you, Naoki: you assist me with clearing some of this paperwork that’s far past due,” he gestures to several foot tall piles on the filing cabinet, “and I’ll pay you a bonus in addition to your earned cuts from demon hunts. It’ll be educational for you to learn how the business operates, and beneficial to everyone involved. What do you think?”

* * *

Nico completes his gauntlets in less time than expected, as the other hunters generously donate some demon leftovers they come across during their patrols. Naoki is still quite a ways away from paying for them in full, and works out a weekly payment plan with her. In between that and taking on extra clerical work that Vergil pays him for, he anticipates that his debt will be clear in six more weeks.

Still, he’s overly excited to try out his new weapon on his next hunt. The weight of the gauntlets feels light in his arms, with silvery spikes latticed between large scales mimicking the hide of the Fury, but also pulsing with an energy of its own. His hands and fingers are covered in high quality black leather, and each knuckle is fitted with an additional large spike. 

Nico was beyond elated to show him a mechanism that he could trigger by squeezing his thumb inside his closed fist, and a large blade would eject (from seemingly  _ nowhere _ ) on the side of each arm. If he were to flip his forearms down while the blades were deployed, the blade would swivel down towards his hands, and it’s handle would detach from his wrists (again, coming out of seemingly nowhere). He effectively had two short swords that could detach from his gauntlets. Looking over the blades closely, he could tell the inspiration was from the Sin Scissor he brought her.

“This is… beyond anything I could have ever hoped for, Nico! Thank you!” 

Nico’s proud grin was a joy to behold, “No problem, bro! I haven’t had as much fun on a project in a  _ loooong _ time! Everybody around here likes their guns, ‘cept for Vergil - and there ain’t nothing wrong with that! I like my guns, too! But sometimes, there ain’t nothing quite as amazing as building a melee weapon. It takes all kinds to rock the world.” 

Nero pops into the van, his large sword already strapped to his back. “ We gotta go clear the warehouse again, Nico. You about ready to go?”

“Wait,” Naoki speaks up, holding up his shiny new gauntlets, “Take me with you!”

Nico whoops, pumping her fist in the air, “Yeah, I gotta see these babies in action!”

“Well then, what are we waiting for, newbie? Let’s go punch some Empusa!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love action scenes, I love writing action, and I'm working on improving my scenes overall. This is my bread and butter. I still wonder, how does one integrate a character from a turn-based JRPG into a real-time action game? 
> 
> What did Naoki study when he went to uni? Who even knows, the kid has no canon interests aside from soccer. (which is still speculation, based on some of his kick moves)
> 
> My Vergil is always trying to recruit someone to be paper bitch. I feel like making this a running gag now.
> 
> This completes the end of the chapters I had already pre-written. We're not sure when our next update will be, but I still have more one shots to make, ones that are partially complete, and more ideas to hash out. I'll be back.


End file.
